'Give to one all the happiness he would have if it were our choice, and to the other all the happiness he would have if it were his.'

[ Alexandrie smiles, small and soft, and tilts her head. ]

It was a different 'we', than 'you and I, his friends'. A different care for the 'he' who thinks himself deserving of his own ill thoughts than 'he, my friend'.

[ Hands settling in her lap, she lifts a shoulder. ]

I did not know, right away, but it stayed in me long enough that it sent me looking through my memories under a different lens.